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Press Releases

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many press releases have been issued by her Department in each month of 2004; and if she will make a statement. [195365]

Alun Michael: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office (Ruth Kelly), on 11 November 2004, Official Report, column 855W.

Select Committees

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many recommendations by parliamentary select committees have been adopted by her Department since June 2001. [197768]

Alun Michael: Since 2001, several committees of both Houses have made recommendations on matters for which Defra is responsible and all have been given careful consideration by the Department's Ministers. Select Committee reports and their responses are a matter of public record.

Waste (Efficiency)

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department will be taking to assist local authorities deliver efficiency gains in waste services. [198796]

Mr. Morley: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 4 October 2004, Official Report, column 1946W.

Waste Disposal

Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 4 February 2004, Official Report, column 903W, on waste disposal, whether she intends to publish the results of her Department's investigation of the feasibility of variable charging for waste before the end of the year. [198009]

Mr. Morley: The Department's work on variable household charging and household incentives for waste recycling and reduction is based on the body of existing, publicly available, research, supplemented by investigation into specific examples of such activity and by specially commissioned research.
 
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It is my intention to publish this new research once the Government have reached a decision on how best to proceed.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when her Department will issue the (a) consultation document for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Permitting, (b) revised refrigerator guidance and (c) Environment Agency audit report; and if she will make representations to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to extend the deadline for responses to the consultation beyond 29 October. [197004]

Mr. Morley: As regards (a), the Department will consult on changes to waste management licensing in line with the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive as soon as practicable. The documents referred to at (b) and (c) are matters for the Environment Agency. As regards (b), the agency and industry are working together to identify reasonable levels for ozone depleting substances and revised guidance on the recovery and disposal of controlled substances contained in refrigerators and freezers will be produced once these levels have been agreed; it is anticipated that this will be in the New Year. As regards (c), the findings of an audit of fridge treatment facilities have been discussed with the site operators and the agency expects to publish the key findings shortly.

Waste Management

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department is conducting into (a) differential and (b) variable rate charging schemes for waste management. [198281]

Mr. Morley: The Department's work on variable household charging and household incentives for waste recycling and reduction is based on the body of existing, publicly available, research, supplemented by investigation into specific examples of such activity and by specially commissioned research into household incentives in England.

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the suitability of private finance initiatives as a funding option for waste management facilities and services in the UK. [198230]

Mr. Morley: Defra's Waste Implementation has commissioned a monitoring and evaluation study from The Public Private Partnerships Programme ("The 4Ps") to obtain a clearer picture of the contribution of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to the sustainable management of household waste in England. This was completed in January 2004.

The study, which was based on the experience of the majority of all operational PFI projects to date, found that the contribution of PFI towards the achievement of national recycling targets and EU Landfill Directive targets was significant and growing. Existing operational and currently planned projects should reduce dependency on landfill by 14 per cent. of present levels if they delivered
 
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their contract objectives. The overwhelming majority of waste PFI projects were designed to achieve or exceed Landfill Directive targets for the procuring authorities.

The report also found that quality management requirements and standards were consistently being met in PFI projects. There had been no significant failures in the quality of service provision. And there was no evidence that waste PFI projects took longer or cost more to procure than comparable projects in other sectors or large-scale, conventional procurements in the waste sector.

Wildlife Crime

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her plans to increase resources to tackle wildlife crime. [197712]

Mr. Morley: In recent years, the Department has made an important contribution to promoting and enhancing wildlife law enforcement activity, through, for example, the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime and also by providing over £0.5 million towards the establishment and maintenance of the National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit.

However, responsibility for tackling wildlife crime rests primarily with the police service and HM Customs and Excise, and we have no plans to increase significantly resources in this area.

TRANSPORT

A38

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the section of the A38 between Ashburton and Buckfastleigh to be resurfaced with a noise-reducing surface; and if he will make a statement. [198527]

Mr. Jamieson: Most of the section of the A38 between Ashburton and Buckfastleigh already has quieter surfacing. As parts of the carriageway are now worn out, this surfacing is due to be replaced, again with quieter materials, during a carriageway reconstruction and bridge repair scheme planned for autumn 2005, subject to the availability of finance.

The other parts of the Buckfastleigh and Ashburton Bypasses, which currently have conventional surfacing, are in good condition and are not expected to require maintenance in the foreseeable future. Lower noise surfacing would be used when maintenance becomes necessary.

Aeroplane Collision

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cause was of two aeroplanes colliding at Manchester airport on 4 November; what assessment he has made of precautions in place to prevent such collisions; and if he will make a statement. [198331]

 
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Charlotte Atkins: The accident is being investigated by the Air Accident Investigation Branch. As part of the investigation process the AAIB may make safety recommendations aimed at preventing similar accidents from occurring in the future. A report of the accident investigation and any safety recommendations will be published once the investigation has been completed.

Air Accident Investigation Branch

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for the relocation of the Air Accident Investigation Branch from Farnborough; and if he will make a statement. [198775]

Charlotte Atkins: The Department for Transport has no plans for the relocation of the Air Accident Investigation Branch from Farnborough.

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